expected to be the second spot of horror. james holmes had planned on whoever opened up that front door being killed and that would have started a fire, a significant fire. i learned new information tonight from authorities who tell me not only were there 30 homemade hand gran nadz bottles with accelerants powders to mix and cause fires there were 10 gallons of gasoline with an ignition source behind it meant to put that apartment up in a matter of seconds. if you look behind me that if a fire started quick in the middle of the night and raced through that third story apartment where james holmes lived could have killed many others who could have been theoretically sleeping at that time of the morning. inside that apartment as the sun goes down and light goes up one was a batman poster another one a mask associated with the movie. they didn't tell me if it was a batman mask or a mask of one of the characters but it was a mask

associated with the movie and a poster inside. they found a ton of information everything you might image took up samples from every single one of the accelerants samples from the homemade hand grenades that were built with fireworks. we are told the setup was intricate with a circuit board in the kitchen that was taken out with the big explosion we heard here yesterday. the bombs themselves were very elementary. they weren't very good but they would have started a significant fire. they also found his computer tower and it is unharmed and there is a ton of information on that. they have got significant evidence at this apartment complex. this was diabolical it wasn't a last minute decision. not just the fact he ordered up all of the ammunition and got the guns but he had a plan inside of the apartment. this was going on for at least 6-8 weeks.

judge? >> thank you joey. when you think about the evidence it's incredible how much they have been able to observe. we are going to go to the vigil. we have archbishop james connolly who is speaking right now. >> our fear, our doubt, our uncertainty to your prove den shall care, oh lord. be present to us. be present to us tonight. be present to us in the days ahead. help us to love as you love help us to build a community of peace. thank you for the peace for the survivors the families pray for their friends and neighbors who love them. pray for the conversion of the perpetrator of this terrible crime and we pray for our city for healing for strength to go forward. you are our hope, lord. we look to your resurrection as

a sure sign that death does not defeat us, that death is not the end. instead we pray that each of us may join in the victory of your resurrection. we ask this through jesus christ our lord, amen. (applause) >> my name is read hedick chairman of the aurora community of faith. leadership matters. leadership matters when things are going well, but leadership really matters in moments of tragedy and crisis. here in aurora we are blessed. we are blessed with strong, capable leaders and every segment and every level of our

society. we are wealth served -- we are well served we are well led. at the top of that heap is our mayor. please join me in thanking and welcoming our mayor stooe hogan. -- steve hogan. (applause) >> i would like to take a moment and introduce members of the aurora city council, those friends that serve with and who represent this city well. it's not just a question of my leadership. it's a question of their leadership. i would like to introduce them

individually and ask them to stand. city county-by-county si-- city debbie hunter holof. city council member bob roth. city council member melissa miller. (applause) city council member marsha verslis. city councilmember redi peterson. city council member molly marcard. city council member brad pierce. city council member bob legare. city council member bob broom.

and mayor pro-tem barbara polard. >> i join you tonight not simply as the mayor of our great city, but as your friend and neighbor. i know the city council members join me in expressing our tremendous sorrow to the victims and their families impacted by this horrific tragedy. the thoughts and words i express tonight are those of my colleagues as well. the theater is in ward 3, a ward of council member marsha bersens. the apartment is in ward 1.

a ward of council member melissa miller. but this horrific incident touches all of aurora. this is one of those moments that test us as a community, the state and a country. for aurora this is also one of those member meant that bring out the best in our community and who we are as individuals. tonight we honor loved ones no longer with us. tonight we support the survivors. tonight we reach out to each other and love each other and love our neighbors and demonstrate what it means to be a good, caring and loving people. tonight each of us is reaching into the depths of our souls and asking why, why did this senseless act of violence happen? why did so many lives have to be

cut short and in such a tragic way? these are questions to which there are no answers, but in this time we turn to our faith for comfort and guidance. we turn to our families and friends for strength and support. but it may be impossible to arrive at an explanation that will make sense. what is not impossible is determine our course of action from here. the course that will help us reclaim peace in our lives. aurora has long been a place of community, diversity and growth. we are a family in aurora. i came to this city as a young man and i raised my young family here. we are good, hard-working people who believe in the goodness of our fellow men. we are coming together tonight

as a family would to provide love and support to those who lost loved ones and those whose lives have been scarred forever by this tragedy. we are praying for you and with you. we are here for you. that is a message i've been sharing and will continue to share. it is also to honor those and risk their lives to help others. there were many. there were people who stared harder in the face and went out of their way to help others escape that theater. there are men and women in uniform from aurora... (applause) >> there are men and women in

uniform from aurora who did more than go above and beyond, but who were extraordinary in their response in the early seconds of this tragedy. (applause) they were helped by many local, state and federal agencies who have partnered with us as we work through this horrible situation. as i indicated, tonight is also a time to honor those who died as heros. (applause)

(applause) people like john blunk the 21-year-old. (applause) whose act of heroism saved the life of jansen young. and matt mcquinn whose act of heroism saved the life of samantha galyard. for those others who died but who's story is just unfolding or is yet to be told, because of them more lives weren't lost and more harm wasn't done. all of us will forever be in

your debt. we thank you. (applause) on behalf of our community we also want to express our deep appreciation for the support we have received from all of the metropolitan area from colorado, from the nation and literally through out the world. it does mean something to us. (applause) and it means something to the families to know that hundreds of thousands if not millions of people are with us in helping to share our burden of grief at this moment. (applause)

that it is not this senseless act of center lines that marks us as a community, it is the lives and acts of these heros and the ennumberable acts of kindness, love and care for our neighbors that defines who we are. (applause) in aurora, while our hearts are broken, our community is not. we will take this experience and use it to strengthen our commitment to each other. we will reclaim our city in the name of goodness, kindness and

compassion. let our city be a place where the vulnerable are supported by our strength. we will care for the families and we will care for each other. the countless acts of compassion and goodness, bravery and selflessness that mark this tragedy will be forever remembered and honored. and our community will be with you as you leave this place tonight. the pain is still raw, and the healing has yet to begin. but know that the city of aurora and the citizens of aurora and the citizens of this metropolitan area and the citizens of this state will do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to help you. (applause)

that is what families do. and we are a family. we have experienced the tragedy but now is the time to grieve, now is the time to heal, and now is the time to begin to over come. at this point i would like to introduce the governor of the state of colorado and someone i have spent a great deal of time with these last two-days in a variety of situations that i would never have imaged. ladies and gentlemen, john hikenlooper.

>> thank you mayor hogan, it was beautiful. i know you have had as little sleep as i have, makes it all the more impressive. colorado is a good place filled with good people. but as you said, we will not -- we will refuse to let our state, our communities to be defined irrational senseless violence. the holocaust survivor victor frank, a man who certainly paid deep loss said, if there is meaning in life at all, then there must be meaning in suffering. so what are ways to make of

suffering of such violence? what possible meaning can it have? wiser people than myself and philosophers certainly may have the answer. but may be no more complicated than a stranger reaching out to another person or hugging your kids a little tighter, remembering to tell the people closest to you that you love them. as we gather here today, holding close to each other, we remember those who died on july 20th and honor the heros and we continue to seek ways to help giving first.org as a way financial contributions can go to help support those survivors and the families of the victims. there are also so many people to

thank. allegedly mayor steve hogan has only been mayor for seven months. i find that hard to believe. he is so strong and so wise, and i see him personally as we have gone through the hospitals and met with victims and their families willing to give them his strength. police chief dan oak... (applause) >> there will be many stories that unfold beyond what has already been told. many of those stories are going to talk about the heroic actions of aurora police officers again

and again and again. (applause) from the moment they got news and they got the call came through to dispatch they were on the scene within 2 and a half minutes. and literally within seconds they had apprehended the susp t suspect. (applause) and i refuse to say his name. (cheers and applause)

>> at my house we are just going to call him suspect a. those officers when they arrived literally, and i talked to dozens and dozens of victims who found their way out of the theater or the back they saw the first officers arrive and make their arrest and without hesitation they said a couple ambulances aren't going to be enough. they ran as fast as they could run across the asphalt parking lot and they started taking victims to the hospital. (applause)

one aurora police officer took six victims to make sure they got to the hospital. i want to recognize all of the hundreds of first responders that came on a moment's notice. everyone. there were leag l league gens. and the healthcare and trauma professionals and the others. i have visited all of the hospitals and seen all the of the doctors. within 40 minutes there were hundreds of medical terpersonne making sure this disaster was not what suspect a intended.

(applause) to the vic tames family, we are more sorry than words can express. we like you struggle to find meaning in an act that defies any type of understanding. the president mayor hogan and i met with families of the deceased, and it was almost like somehow god had come down and viced so-- picked some of the mt vibrant and alive people and taken them from us. and the families, again without words we can't adequately communicate how deeply we share

their grief. but i think july 20th should never be about -- >> we have just been watching the prayer vigil in colorado just a few hundred yards from where we are right now. we are going back now to the prayer vigil. >> so i am going to ask you to help me here. i am going to call names. i would like after i read each name i would like you each to say together, we will remember. john blunk. a.j. bo.

jessie chilldress. jessica ghawi. john larimer. matt mcquinn. micayla medik. veronica moser-sullivan. flush alec sullivan. alexander teves and rebecca wingo. >> we will remember you. we will remember you, we will

honor you by celebrating life. we will honor you by living our lives a little better. today we also want to remember those other heros. you know in the past 72-hours going to the hospital, individuals and families hafrom indonesia, connecticut, new jersey, louisiana, jordan, texas and to a person these wounded want to stay in colorado. we have learned again about the kindness of strangers. the young man named pierce who had been shot three times, one with each of the weapons, ar 15, the shot guns, at one point he

said, the outpouring of light and love is so much more powerful than any darkness. (applause) or a young man named terry 20 years old who described having four complete strangers lifting up off of the pavement where he was literally screaming and carrying him to the safety of grass. after they picked him up and got him over a young women another stranger took off her belt and tied his leg as a tourniquet. allen met with by a visiting

nurse who he didn't know who helped stop his bleeding. heather the young women were red robin -- there were 37 people from red robin celebrating, she was there 25, she was the other person we had met who had been shot with all three weapons. image her ordeal, and yet behind her on her bed was a large batman pillow. (applause) >> we talked about that shared strength and resiliency. her mother looked up at one point and said, it's amazing one bad person has brought out so much good. (applause) you know, in the coming days we

will hear more stories. i was with the president and he asked me to say, he couldn't be here without -- he was supposed to have left about an hour and a half ago as he met these heros as you heard the story, the staff have tried to drag him out and he wouldn't be dragged out. (applause) >> but he told a story of a young woman stephanie davies. she was with her friend alley who was 19d and stood up at the very beginning and was shot in the neck. blood started to spurt out and stephanie, 21 years old had the sense of being to put her ginger over and to stop the bleeding, stay with her and make sure she

got evacuated safely and the president visited them together in the hospital room. (applause) we are going to hear more stories in the coming days. we should celebrate those stories. we will have a chance to honor each of the victims individually and to remember lives cut short for reasons that can't -- i can't explain. history tells us the pain from something like this never goes aw away, that it will be easier to move forward, it may take days maybe months, maybe longer. for the family of those gathered here today we remain here for

you. our community is here for you. colorado is here for you and always will be. god bless you. (applause) >> thank you, governor. we are joined on the steps up here this evening by a large number of elected officials and dignitaries. i am not going to introduce each one of them individually, but i want you to know that here this evening we have our colorado united states senators, our colorado congressional delegation. we have governors -- i am sorry.

we have mayors from numerous t metropolitan area jurisdictions. we have city council members from metropolitan area jurisdictions. we have county commissioners from metropolitan area jurisdictions. we have past office holders. we have representatives of the fbi, our aurora fire department looking around to -- (applause) a colorado state representatives, colorado state senators, our lieutenant governor, colonel dant from buckley air force base.

(applause) members of school boards and other employees of the city of aurora who have assisted this evening, members of the regional transportation district a whole host of people who are here because they care. at this time i would like to introduce veronica o. white the chairman of the aurora human relations commission. (applause) >> good evening i am veronica white i am the chairman of the human relations commission. on behalf of the human relations

commission i would like to extend to the family, and friends and victims of this senseless act our prayers and support. as you go through this time remember you have a village. the city of aurora is your village. it is your home and family and you have members here that will help you through this time. aurora community has come together to lift up, provide comfort and support to each person affected by this vicious act of violence. it is my honor now to introduce to you a village of community members that are going to be able to provide words of comfort to each one of you. the very first person will provide victims family and friends pastor debbie stafford. >> as we are here tonight to honor the lives of incredible people, i would like to have a remember the victims their

families and their friends. for those 12 who heroically have given their lives and those 58 who have been injured, for all of the hundreds of attendees that were in that theater and have become victims, for the employees, for the owners, for the families, for the friends and those who have felt the ripple effect like a rock or a pebble that has been skid across the water and the ripples continue, please as we begin to pray, let us once again honor these 12 who have given their lives. jessica ghawi, 24. veronica moser-sullivan, 6.

john t. larimer, 27. alexander j. boik, 18. jessie e. childress, 29. jonathan t. blunk, 26. alex m. sullivan, 27. micayla c. medek, 23. matthew r. mcquinn, 27.

alexander c. teves, 24. rebecca ann wingo, 32. and gordon w. cowden, 51. please join me as we pray. heavenly father we come to you now and ask that the comforter of the holy spirit would wrap your arms around each one who tonight suffers, suffers in their body, suffers in their mind for those who are feeling the ripple effects, their family and their friends, may you comforted th comfort them, may you walk with them in the days ahead and may they continue to know that they have received an outpouring of new friends in this community of new friends in this nation, and

that we as a family together will continue to love, to support, to encourage them and to help them in any way that we can. may the comforter of your holy spirit be with them in the night and in the we hours when there are so few to talk to. most of all may they know your healing, may they know your love, may they know your power, may they know that they forever will know they are loved. and we thank you for your protection over each of them in your son jesus' name, amen. (applause) >> thank you pastor debbie. providing words of encouragement for early responders pastor ron pearson.

>> heavenly father, we are gathered here to bring comfort. in matthew 20 chapter 16th verse. i am reminded that it says so the last shall be first and the first shall be last. as many are called and few are chosen many times you are the last one that is remembered that you are a victim. you are the last one that people stop to think that you had fog through something -- you had to go through something but you are the first on the call, the first on the scene. and we are grateful. many say they would but you were chosen to answer the call.

we are grateful you have answered the call. from the days of john the baptist until now it says the kingdom of heaven has suffered silence but the center lines has taken by force. we thank you that you have not shrunk back from this challenge and that you with great skill ran into the building, ran into places, willing to lay down your life for others. i want you to be reminded, because what you have experienced, what you go through is something that transcends what you do on your everyday job. this is above and beyond the call of duty. but it also effects your family life. i ask god to comfort you. i want you to remember these words. thou hast not heard the ever lasting god, the lord, the

creator of the ends of the earth thank us not neither is weary. there is no searching of his understanding. he giveth power to the faith to them that have no might increase the strength and even the youth may faint and be weary and the young men shall fall but they that wait upon the lord shalrie new their strength. they shall mount up with wings as on eagles. they shall run and not be weary. they shall nwalk and not paint. it is our prayer tonight that you would be renewed. heavenly father, i pray, lord, that you would renew them. lord i pray lord that you would meet the police, i pray lord that you would meet the fire department, the ambulance drivers, i pray lord that you would meet the doctors and the nurses. i pray, lord, that you would meet every one who willingly ran in willingly gave of themselves, lord, to step in the gap for

someone else. now i ask that as you bring peace to them as you heal their hearts and their minds as they try to wrap around and ask why heavenly father, but lord they would look to you and even in the weariness in the weakness that their strength would be renewed because of who you are in jesus' name, we pray, and we say... (applause) >> providing prayer of comfort pastor robin hollings. >> amen. i want to say how proud i am of being your pastor. you did a marvelous job.

amen. i want to say to everyone who has lost a loved one, who has had someone who has been injured, and any one who was in that theater and associate with any one, our hearts go out to you. we have been praying for you since we first heard since my phone range at 3 in the morning. i am here to tell you that the bible said we are to rejoice with those who rejoice and we are to weep with those who weep. we weep with you today. we weep because we have hope that tomorrow is going to be brighter. you are aurora, we are aurora. we breathe together. i have six members of my church

in that leet theater. those six members survived. five of those members were in theater 1 because of the overflow of theater 9. but a young man who just graduated from high school and going off to college, jerrell and his girlfriend jordan were in the third row center in theater 9. it's the grace of god that they got out of there alive. and i want to tell you that their parents, jerrell's parents reverend scott and sister

nanita, it was they that i was praying with on that morning it was they that are in that famous picture that you see on tv every time you turn on. we were praying, i had a bright blue shirt on. we were praying. you know what we were praying? we were praying for those who lost loved ones. we were praying for the survival of those that were injured and we were praying that we could touch jerrell and jordan and we could hug them. those prayers were the beginning of healing. and as i pray right now, saints, city of aurora, the healing has begun. your presence here is the step of healing that this nation needs to see, and i am so proud to be a citizen of aurora,

colorado. (applause) >> heavenly father, we are grateful, dear lord. father, you have told us in phillipians, father, that we aren't to be worried and anxious about anything, but we are to pray with thanksgiving, father god, telling you our requests and making them known to you and you said in verse 7 the peace of god that goes beyond any of our understanding will rest and rule in our hearts. give us peace in christ jesus. and lord we need your peace right now. we need strength that is beyond our own strength. father, this outpouring of love, dear board, sho -- dear lord sh the power of the community. we need to continue to comfort father god those that can't be comforted. the truth of the matter is,

lord, our city is hurting. but one day, lord, we know that our city will march back into that theater and we will claim that theater back dear god. it doesn't be long to terrorists, it belongs to the city of aurora. we ask, father god, that you would bring this comfort and that you would have it rest and rule in our hearts in jesus' name we pray and everyone said, amen. god bless you. >> representative rhonda fields.

>> good evening, aurora. first giving honor to god who is the source of my life, the governor of this great state to the mayor of this great city and to all of the elected officials behind me that i serve with that the victims and the survivors and all who are here today i want you to know that we are aurora and we are strong. thank you for being here this evening. i have been asked to pray for our city, so please, bow your heads in prayer. observation migh -- oh mighty god you are the creator of the heaven and earth. oh god we thank you for your loving kindness, your grace and

your mercy. we thank you, lord, for being here with us today. for stopping the rain and sending up your spirit as a source of hope and inspiration that we will make it past today. god, we are calling out to you today with tears in our eyes and sorrow in our hearts. we come before you with grief, pain and sorrow. god, please stretch out your hands toward us, fill us with your spirit of love and please knit our hearts together. we are there to bring hope, where there is confusion, bring peace. lord hear the mothers cry, heal us. comfort us today, tomorrow and forever. replace the pain in our hearts with love and courage. give us the strength to restore hope and promise in our families, with our friends, with

our co-workers, just heal us, lord. touch every person in the hospital, every family who has lost a loved one. all of our first responders or doctors and therapists and counselors. touch us, lord. touch those that are injured, wounded, scarred or battered. thank you lord for each life that is here today and let our lives be the testimony of hope. thank you, lord, for the leadership of this beautiful city and this great state. we are aurora, we are strong and we are one. god bless you all. (applause) >> prayer for peace rabbi joe black. >> let us pray.

our god and god of all people, god of the rich and god of the poor, god of the faceless and god of the famous. god of the victims, god of all who cry on their behalf. god of those who have no god. we have come together at this sacred solemn hour to pray for peace. past days have been filled with horror. we have seen the devastating effect of violence on those killed injured on their loved ones and those who may have escaped physical violence but who bear painful wounds deep within their soul. we have held tightly to our own children and played out the scenarios of what ifs and why notes over and over again in our minds. we are drained, we are in pain and we are angry.

but tonight we pray. god spread over us the shelter of shalom, of peace, knowing full well that peace can seem out of reach in the aftermath of devastation. help us to see the potential for holiness that resides within each of us. god, we have felt your healing presence in the outpouring of love and caring that binds this incredible community together. we have witnessed your love in moments of clarity that cut through the deafening sorrow that fills our heart and our home. you have learned of selfless acts of courage that stir our souls and remind us of the inhair rapt goodness that you have implanted within us. guide us to see the good in the midst of evil. grant us peace your most precious gift and help us to be partners with you in shining the light of peace in the darkest

corners. the jewish prayer we say (speaking in foreign language) may the one who sends peace in the high heavens send peace to us in all creation and let us say, amen. (applause) >> once again, i want to thank you all for your willing support and participation in tonight's prayer vigil. once again, it is because of you, because of all of us aurora is still an all american city. it is through your strength and

your resolve we shall prevail and prosper. i like for you all to thank barbara banister and nancy freed and all of the others who have assisted in organizing this vigil. i think it has been terrific, don't you? (applause) >> now it is my pleasure to reintroduce pastor read hedik to let us close for this vigil. reed? >> thank you so much for being here. we stand together as a community, and we thank you for being here. there is not much we can do to sort of decrease the suffering of some of those who mourn and suffer right now except stand by you. here we are standing with you.

we want to thank all of the members, all of you that are here. we are especially appreciative from the delegation from buckley air force base. and i want to express -- (applause) i also want to express my appreciation, and i want you to express your appreciation to members of the cher g clergy tor who's are stepping up to express hope and faith and to encourage you. (applause) following our closing prayer this evening, we wanted sort of the final act together and the community to sing together that great anthem of our faith, amazing grace. so join us in doing that as we close. let's pray. our heavenly father, we thank you for these moments together

this evening. we thank you, father, for the privilege of standing together with those who mourn. we thank you, father, for the privilege we have of standing together with those who lead. we ask for your grace and your peace and your help. as we have stated this evening there are no easy clear answers to some of the hardest questions in life, but somehow some of that pain and confusion is made just a little bit more bearable as we do it together. we thank you for uniting us and bringing us here this evening. father, as a community, we identify with the words of the apostle paul, when he said, we are hard pressed at every side but not crushed. perplexed but not in despair, persecuted but not abandoned. struck down but not destroyed. and that is the case because we have each other and we have a

loving, caring, powerful creator god who watches out for us and helps us. thank you, lord, for this time together. thank you for these friends, community members, thank you for your presence and peace and healing power. we pray these things in the name of our lord and savior, jesus christ, amen. (applause) >> we would ask that you please stay where you are while we let the families exit and all of our officials up here please remain standing and we will sing "amazing grace." let's let them get started out and then we will start "amazing grace."

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